The most important decision we will ever make

A few years ago, a local high school asked me to be their commencement speaker. In that speech, I told the students there is one decision most of them will make that will be, by far and without question, the most important of their lives.

If you choose poorly, it can wipe out all the good in your life.

If you choose well, it can help you overcome anything and everything negative that life throws at you.

It is the decision of who you want to share the rest of your life with. I know that God certainly smiled on me when he brought an angel into my life.

The person you share your life with should be someone who always builds you up. Never tears you down.

They help you shape and reach your life goals while never taking away your individuality. Your home and your relationship become your fortress against all the negative things in the world.

I’ve always thought the lyrics to Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes summed it up beautifully:

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes

We only get one shot at this life — don’t screw it up. Don’t ever settle for someone who doesn’t help you reach all of the potential that is inside of you. And when you find that person, make sure you do everything you can to lift them up as well.

Work (and play) tirelessly to love and to laugh. Be there for each other for the inevitable sorrow that is a part of all of our lives.

All of this is my long-winded way of saying happy 30th anniversary to my wife Suzanne.